Marco Rubio, right, is joined by his communications director Alex Conant as he speaks to reporters after a town hall meeting on Jan. 18, 2016, in Ottumwa, Iowa. | AP Photo

Rubio spokesman blasts CNN: ‘I mean, who does that?'

By ELIZA COLLINS and HADAS GOLD

03/07/2016 06:35 PM EST

Updated 03/07/2016 08:30 PM EST

2016-03-07T08:30-0500

Marco Rubio’s campaign spokesman raced across town to give a combative interview to CNN, swatting down a report he called “fiction” that said some of the Florida senator's advisers want him to exit the 2016 presidential race.

“Jamie’s report was utter nonsense,” Alex Conant said about a CNN story Monday by Jamie Gangel that said Rubio was “bullish” about his chances of winning Florida, but some advisers don’t agree and think he should drop out before voters head to the polls on March 15 to avoid an embarrassing loss to Donald Trump.

"Most of his advisers agree he does not have a path to the nomination and some are advising him to get out ahead of the March 15 primary," the story said, citing unnamed "sources."

“I’m gonna ask you to stop reading that sort of fiction on air," a fired-up Conant told host Wolf Blitzer. "That is fiction and CNN should stop reporting it."

An angry Conant said that CNN had not reached out to the campaign for request for comment before publishing its report, asking, “I mean, who does that?"

The reporter had spoken to some people in the campaign, Blitzer responded — just not Conant.

“It is totally not true," Contant reiterated, speaking of the report. "Definitely, there is no way he is getting out of the race before Florida — or after Florida."

CNN continued citing the report, noting that Rubio's camp was pushing back on the suggestion Rubio

Gangel said the network's story came from one very knowledgeable source who cited concerns from top advisers, and after Conant's appearance on the network, they double-checked with the source, who said the story was correct.

"The Rubio campaign may not be happy that this story out there when they're fighting for their life and trailing in the polls. They don't want people to know there's dissent in the campaign, but the reality is we were told there has been a serious debate about whether he should drop out before the Florida primary," Gangel said later on CNN.

A Monmouth University poll released on Monday found Rubio trailing Trump by 8 percentage points in Florida. Trump leads Rubio by a larger margin in the RealClearPolitics average of state polls, 44.7 percent to 26 percent.

Conant emailed Rubio's supporters after exiting the studio, calling it "the latest example of the media’s attempt to stop you from voting for Marco" and asking for donations "so we can fight these lies from the media."

In an email, Conant said Gangel never talked to the campaign and that he's complained to the "highest level" at CNN.

"She has terrible sources on the campaign — I was the only senior staffer who even knew who she was when she went on air," Conant wrote.

Conant also said a previously scheduled appearance on CNN with Anderson Cooper for Monday night had been canceled. A spokesperson for Cooper's show did not immediately respond to a request for comment as to whether the appearance was connected to Gangel's story.

A CNN spokesperson said the network stands by the report.

"CNN had multiple sources on this reporting, and we stand by it 100 percent" the spokesperson said.